Ratchet-wrench



INITED STATES PATENT Faro.

HENRY MARKEL, OF SPENCERVILLE, INDIANA.

RATCHET-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,672, dated September 24, 1895.

Application filed April 8 1895.

reference being had to the accompanying,

drawings, which form tion.

My invention relates to improvements in ratchet-wrenches.

My improvement comprises a hollow hub having an integral slotted reduced neck and an extended shank for the operating-handle, a

part of this specificaratchet rotatably mounted in said hub, having upon one end thereof an integral die-holding plate and upon the other end a screw-threaded shank for the securing-nut, the said shank having peripheral notches and teeth for the holding-pawl, and a spring-pressed holdingpawl pivotally mounted in the said slotted neck and adapted for a holding engagement Y with the toothed periphery of the rotary ratchet.

ratchet-wrench of simple and economical construction, compact in form, having but few parts, easily kept in repair, operative in either direction, and adapted for use in situations not accessible to the ordinary wrench. These objects I accomplish by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

end of the said pawl. Fig. 4 is a detail of the holding-pawl.

All parts of my invention except the handle are made of suitable metal. The hub 2, of any proper size and any desired contour, has a central circular recess adapted to loosely contain the rotatable ratchet 3 and an integral reduced neck 1, having a transverse central slot 13, extending to the said hub-recess. In this slot the holding pawl is pivotally mounted on the transverse pin 16,'Fig. 1. The said neck also has a rearWardly-extended integral shank 6, having a longitudinal central slot or aperture 20, registering with the said slot 13 and adapted to loosely contain a proper coiled retracting-spring 19, having a flat-headed pin 18, loosely mounted therein and adapted to bear against the base of the said pawl. The rear extremity of the said shank 6 is surmounted in the usual manner by a proper wooden handle 25.

The ratchet 3 has its central and cylindrical portion provided with longitudinal peripheral grooves 24 and teeth 26, Fig. 3, to engage the said pawl 15, and is of adiameter to loosely but snugly fit the said hub-recess or central opening. The rear end of the said ratchet has a reduced cylindrical portion 27, The object of my'invention is to provide a void of peripheral grooves or teeth, adapted to fit a corresponding circular opening in the rear face of the said hub, as seen in Fig. 1, and is also provided with a still further reduced and shouldered shank 9, which is externally screw-threaded and is provided with a proper washer 10 and a threaded nut 11. The said ratchet 3 is provided upon its forward end with an integral rectangular plate 4, adapted to form a bearing upon the front face of the said hub, and is provided on two Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is r opposite sides with the dovetailed flanges 4', adapted to firmly secure the die-plate 5, presently described.

The circular and central aperture or opening 7 extends from end to end of the said ratchet and is adapted to receive the bolt upon which the wrench is operating, and allows it to pass through any desired distance.

The die-plate 5, rectangular in form, has upon the lower edges of two opposite sides oblique flanges adapted to engage the said dovetailed flanges 4 of the plate 4, by which the said die is secured in position, Fig. 1. The said plate 5 has a rectangular recess of any desired size and of proper depth in the upper face thereof, Figs. 1 and 2, to receive the upper face of the nut upon which the wrench is operating, and a strengthening-web 8 upon its lower face, provided with a circular vertical aperture registering with the said opening 7, Fig. 1. The said plate 5 is retained in position when in use by the said dovetailed flanges t, and it is readily removable longitudinally in one direction only.

Vith each wrench I provide a series of die= plates 5, each having a diiferent-sized facial recess to fit the different-sized nuts on which my improvement is adapted for use.

The holding-pawl 15 is a metallic plate of irregular form and proper thickness, having upon its opposite edges the ears or thumb-1n gs 21 for reversing the position thereof, for the purposes hereinafter described and has upon its upper end two oppositely-slanted oblique bearing-faces 22, Fig. 4, to engage the toothed periphery of the said ratchet. The said pawl has upon its lower end two oblique basal faces 23, adapted to rest in turn upon the head of the spring-pressed pin 18,and is provided near its base with a transverse circu lar aperture 17 of approximately twice the diameter of the pin 16, on which the said pawl is mounted, Fig. 1, to permit the proper vertical depression of the said pawl under the rotary movements of the said ratchet.

The operation of my improvement, thus described, is briefly stated as follows: The operator having inserted a die-plate provided with the desired size of facial recess to fit the nut to be turned, places the wrench in position thereon with the projecting end of the bolt in the said aperture 7. He next regulates the position of the said pawl 15 in accordance with the direction in which he desires to rotate the said ratchet by means of the said thumb-lugs 21 in the said lateral recesses 14, the said pawl always standing in an oblique position, as seen in Fig. 1, when in operation, resting upon one or the other of the faces 23, thereby bringing at all times the corresponding upper face 22 into an operative engagement with the periphery of the said ratchet. As will be seen in Fig. 1, the said pawl is normally in an operative engagement with said ratchet under the influence or tension of the said coil-spring 19, carrying the contact-pin 18, on which the said pawl rests, and when the operator desires to reverse the direction of the rotary ratchet, which carries with it the nut under adjustment, he simply reverses the oblique position of the said pawl by means of the said lug 21,

the engagement of the said pawl permitting the rotation of the said ratchet in but one direction at a time.

It is thus obvious that with my improvement a nut or burr can be rotated or adjusted upon any length of bolt in either or both directions and to any extent without removing the wrench from its engagement therewith.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of operating the same, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a ratchet Wrench, the combination of a hollow hub 2 having an integral neck 1 provided at its upper extremity with a slot 13 for the holding pawl, and at its lower end with a spring-pressed supporting-pin mounted therein as shown, a rotatable ratchet 3 mounted in said hub, as described, having a toothed periphery to engage the said pawl, provided at one end with a screw-threaded shank for the holding nut, and at the other end with a flanged die-holding plate 4:, a spring-pressed holding-pawl l5 pivotally mounted in said slot 13 as described, adapted for a holding engagement with said ratchet, and a removable die-plate 5 mounted as shown on the front face of the rotatable ratchet, substantially as described.

2. A ratchet wrench comprising a hollow hub 2 apertured as shown,having an integral neck 1 and an external shank 6 for the fixed handle, the said neck having at its upper end a transverse slot 13 for the holding pawl and having in its lower end a central aperture 20 containing a spring-pressed pin 18 adapted to press the said pawl normally into engagement with the ratchet, a cylindrical ratchet having a toothed periphery, rotatably mounted in said hub as described, provided upon one end with a threaded shank for the securing nut, and upon the other end with means for securing the removable die, the die 5 adapted to engage a nut or burr, and having a central perforation coincident with that of the ratchet on which it is detachably mounted, and the holding-pawl 15 apertured as described, pivotally mounted in the said slot 13, provided with oblique faces upon both extremities, for the purpose specified, being vertically movable on its pivoted support, and adapted to normally engage the rotatable ratchet under the tension ofthe said spring-pressed pin,substantially as described.

Signed by me, at Fort \Vayne, Allen county, Indiana, this 6th day of April, 1895.

HENRY MARKEL. Witnesses:

FLAVIUS J. YOUNG, HENRY O. KRAMER. 

